I'm so bummed I will not be able to make it to Indy Veg Fest! I know chef Ian the great, and am sure anything he makes will be **magical**.

I'm mad at myself for not getting a potluck together for Btown/Indy peeps. Let's change that. This weekend won't work-(my son's birthday), but we could make it for a future weekend. Let's do this!

PS-We're going to Holiday World, which BTW now serves a vegan cheese pizza, vegan mac n' cheese, vegan cookies, AND tofutti at the park. Squee! You just have to ask to look at their "allergen free" menu.

Jewbacca, you're in Bloomington, right? I lived down there from 2002-2004. I bet our paths have crossed! I just went down last month for an afternoon and I couldn't believe how much has changed in the last few years!

well if you miss out on veg fest indy vegans is doing thanksvegan nov 19th this year. last year so kind of promoted and had 70 people come out! Its a thanksgiving vegan potluck. Also Ian is a crazy rad dude

Man, I am impressed with Holiday World's vegan friendliness. That place always creeped me out, and I remember when it was called Santa Claus World. Gnat, I remember hearing about the potluck last year, but I hardly ever go out anymore (school, kid, husband, house). Plus, I usually do a small Tday dinner for just a few friends. I hate the holidays.

Looks like I should go out to Holiday World! Broken Box you should come out! This year it is going to be at the arts colony and we're going to have a bunch of rad free junk and thats on top of all the crazy awesome food that people will be bringing out!

I'm so bummed I will not be able to make it to Indy Veg Fest! I know chef Ian the great, and am sure anything he makes will be **magical**.

I'm mad at myself for not getting a potluck together for Btown/Indy peeps. Let's change that. This weekend won't work-(my son's birthday), but we could make it for a future weekend. Let's do this!

PS-We're going to Holiday World, which BTW now serves a vegan cheese pizza, vegan mac n' cheese, vegan cookies, AND tofutti at the park. Squee! You just have to ask to look at their "allergen free" menu.

WHAAAAAA? this makes me want to go to holiday world again so badly! last time i ate next to nothing and got sick from drinking too much soda....

also i am always down for a bloomington potluck, i just have a crazy schedule. fridays are my only day off and i often work until 6pm on saturday/sundays.

I think Friday would be a perfect night to do a potluck! We could have a crazy assed punk rock Star Wars Shabbos dinner! Seriously!

That Thanksgiving in Indy sounds great! I'm down for that. The 19th you say, Gnat? Where? The whole wookie clan would come up for that. Fini's birthday is on Thanksgiving this year so that works out just great.

As the days go on and the event gets more planned we will announce more details but all information is going to be at www.indyvegans.com/events. Its at a the Indy Indie Artist Colony which is an art space.

If you are in the mood for Thai food I suggest Bangkok. It's located in Town and Country off Mckinley(US20) He will happily makes you anything on the menu (and sometimes things that aren't on the menu) vegan. Bangkok is totally authentic, best thai food around, no question.

The best place for vegan options with Mexican food is Puerto Vallarta, it's where the old Barns and Noble used to be on Grape Rd. By outback steakhouse and Bleachers. This place is authentic Mexican, not americanized bullshiitake. They don't use lard in their beans, their salsa is delish and the price is right!

Elia's is the best middle eastern food altho its a little more pricey, there are several vegan options. They have a location on both 23 and Ironwood by Notre Dame and on 31 in Roseland.

For Coffee, the Chicory in downtown South Bend. Don't go anywhere else. It's a French Quarter styles cafe and she offers 2 vegan po' boy's (if you leave the cheese off)

Sunny's is a Korean restaurant on Spring St. in Mishawaka just South of Lincoln way, close to the 100 center. It's not exactly authentic but she is an excellent cook, and the staff is knowledgable and friendly. You will not have a problem getting a vegan or GF options here. Plus in the summer she has a super cute patio you can eat on.

For Chinese I vote either OG's on Merrifield orChina Star on Mishawaka Ave, in River Park. Be careful about fish/oyster sauce and eggs.

I do no recommend the Mark or Uptown Kitchen. They are pricey and fake. Also, Cambodian Thai refuses to leave fish sauce out of certain dishes.

The cheapest and best health food store is the Garden Patch on Edison. The Apple Valley we got isn't bad but Down to Earth was created for granger people so it's way more expensive and the staff tends to be pretentious.

If anyone is ever in the area let me know and I can try to suggest some things to do to make your time here less... boring.

If you are in the mood for Thai food I suggest Bangkok. It's located in Town and Country off Mckinley(US20) He will happily makes you anything on the menu (and sometimes things that aren't on the menu) vegan. Bangkok is totally authentic, best thai food around, no question.

The best place for vegan options with Mexican food is Puerto Vallarta, it's where the old Barns and Noble used to be on Grape Rd. By outback steakhouse and Bleachers. This place is authentic Mexican, not americanized bullshiitake. They don't use lard in their beans, their salsa is delish and the price is right!

Elia's is the best middle eastern food altho its a little more pricey, there are several vegan options. They have a location on both 23 and Ironwood by Notre Dame and on 31 in Roseland.

For Coffee, the Chicory in downtown South Bend. Don't go anywhere else. It's a French Quarter styles cafe and she offers 2 vegan po' boy's (if you leave the cheese off)

Sunny's is a Korean restaurant on Spring St. in Mishawaka just South of Lincoln way, close to the 100 center. It's not exactly authentic but she is an excellent cook, and the staff is knowledgable and friendly. You will not have a problem getting a vegan or GF options here. Plus in the summer she has a super cute patio you can eat on.

For Chinese I vote either OG's on Merrifield orChina Star on Mishawaka Ave, in River Park. Be careful about fish/oyster sauce and eggs.

I do no recommend the Mark or Uptown Kitchen. They are pricey and fake. Also, Cambodian Thai refuses to leave fish sauce out of certain dishes.

The cheapest and best health food store is the Garden Patch on Edison. The Apple Valley we got isn't bad but Down to Earth was created for granger people so it's way more expensive and the staff tends to be pretentious.

If anyone is ever in the area let me know and I can try to suggest some things to do to make your time here less... boring.

Thanks for the Mishawaka/South Bend rundown! I'm preparing for our trip to Goshen for X-Mas. We usually escape to SB to see a movie and visit the Garden Patch! Now I know there are other places to potentially visit.

Hey Veganismbot, Will you have access to a car? And whereabouts downtown? There aren’t any vegan specific restaurants that I can think of but vegan options all around. I recommend the Earth House on the east side of downtown, on New York St. There are a bunch of chain restaurants near IUPUI campus that have veg options like Noodles and Co. And then there are places easy to get to but are about 15 minutes by car... I’m happy to give you more ideas if you’d like.

Hey Veganismbot, Will you have access to a car? And whereabouts downtown? There aren’t any vegan specific restaurants that I can think of but vegan options all around. I recommend the Earth House on the east side of downtown, on New York St. There are a bunch of chain restaurants near IUPUI campus that have veg options like Noodles and Co. And then there are places easy to get to but are about 15 minutes by car... I’m happy to give you more ideas if you’d like.

I unfortunately don't have a car, but may try to walk or cab. I know it's cold, but I've been spending most of my visit at a desk and would like to get out! As far as I can tell I'm on the SE side of Downtown (it's my first time so I don't know what's going on), so I'll keep my eyes peeled for Earth House. Thanks!

I'm in Indiana, but I'm all the way down in the southern part of the state, near Louisville. Anyone else down here? :)

Bloomington sounds like it's pretty veg-friendly...DH and I might have to venture up there for a day or two sometime!

If any of you are ever down this way, there is a good vegan-friendly cafe and coffee bar in New Albany called Earth Friends Cafe. They have many menu items that are either vegan or can be made vegan, and can even make your latte with almond milk or coconut milk instead of just soy milk. They're nice people and being able to go there for a breakfast or lunch out has made this transition a lot easier. I wish all of our lunch spots were this easy to find something to eat at...one of my former favorites, I discovered last weekend, has NOTHING on the menu without animal products unless you just want to eat a dry baked potato. :\

mary_cee--I'm a Btowner-(technically Ellettsville) but nonetheless here. BTOWN is SO vegan friendly, it's uh-mazing. You can even go to chain restaurants and ask for stuff to be made to order and no one freaks out. My suggestions are Samira, Bloomingfoods hot bar, Siam House, and A Taste of India. The Owlery is temporarily closed for relocation, but you'll still find plenty to eat.

PS--anyone know what is up with ROOTS carrying "local meat?" what the fizzle? Aren't there enough places for omnis to eat? I'm so sick of forking locovores.

I noticed they started offering a citrus-soy salmon dish for almost a year now...have they added more meat options? I guess it's their decision to make, but I don't agree that they continue to advertise themselves as a vegan/vegetarian place....maybe they have stopped doing so? I understood the new management, that took over a couple years back, decided to offer more Thai dishes and the possibility of meat offerings.

My hubs and I went down to Btown last night to see Good vs. Evil with Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain. We stopped in at Roots for dinner and saw that they had offered meat dishes. I was super confused, at first I just assumed it was all mock meat but then saw locally raised at so and so farms. Ugh. I was disappointed, but still glad to know I can go into a restaurant and order a meal without subbing this and no that nonsense. Indy doesn’t even have that option.